Chris Fowler Martinez

Chris was born on September 26th, 1951, in Hawthorne CA, to Milton and Arlene Martinez. He served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War, and was honorably discharged on April 1st, 1974; afterwards, he attended Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA.

Chris grew up in a family of photojournalists. His grandfather, Perry Fowler, worked at the Herald Examiner as well as his father, Milton Martinez. At an early age, Chris developed a keen interest in photography accompanying his father on weekly assignments. He was able to contribute his own photographs that were published in the newspaper in his early teens. From that moment on, he knew that his calling in life was photography. He worked in photojournalism for most of his life, contributing to several news agencies and newspapers such as Reuters, Associated Press and La Opinion. Later in life, he ventured into acting and voice-over.

Chris had two passions in sports: baseball and golf. He played baseball during his school years and was fortunate to meet in person some of his sports heroes, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Duke Snyder, Tommy Davis and Frank Howard. In his thirties, Chris began playing golf, a sport that he thoroughly embraced and practiced with passion and dedication and continued playing until Thanksgiving of 2021. He would look forward to playing golf twice every week, and every year he would “get jonesing” as he put it, to play golf in Ramona, CA.

He also enjoyed listening to jazz and blues, working in the garden, watching the sunsets and be ‘one with the universe’. His love for life, humanity and science was such that becoming a body donor to help future research was the first decision he made after being diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, a rare form of cancer.

Chris was preceded in death by his father, Milton, and his mother, Arlene. He is survived by his wife Beatriz, brother Scott and first cousins Janet, Elaine, Diane and nieces and nephews. A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, March 13th, 2022, at 1:30pm with a Flag Presentation at 2pm, located at the Arroyo Trabuco Golf Course (Trabuco Patio), 26772 Avery Parkway, Mission Viejo, CA 92692.